What Makes You Beautiful
by storiesofamind
Summary: "Three of them came out of the incident with minor injuries. Three of them anxiously await news on their beloved friends, their family." Oneshot, partly Finchel but not entirely, completely Finchel.


**This is a oneshot and I definately won't be taking this one any further. Enjoy,**

* * *

><p>No one's quite sure how something like this happens. No one's quite sure how a school can succumb to such a tragedy. They ask themselves how the principal let their children become victims of such a vicious attack. The parents know that their children were specifically targeted. They're not in any way oblivious to the way their children are treated and the room that was the main source of damage is a giveaway. They're furious at the school but most of all their furious at <em>themselves<em>. They're furious that they have allowed their children to be so harshly bullied to the point where their lives are threatened. The incident has awakened the fury in them all.

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><p><em>It's hot in the room. Smoke is building up and they can see the orange lick of flames around them. The room is small. The fire will spread to the rest of the school in no time at all but they're alone in the school. They're alone in orange glow of impending death. The orange glow of death that has no beginning in their memories, nor will it have no end. It will forever be burned in their minds as they watch their friends fall one by one to floor, entwined in each other's arms. No one can even imagine escaping their fate. Their fate is decided for them now.<em>

* * *

><p>Three of them came out of the incident with minor injuries. Three of them sit in the waiting room with blankets draped over their shoulders and coffees in their shaking hands. Three of them anxiously await news on their beloved friends, their family. Three of them are tapping their feet and biting tongues. They're biting back sobs. They're biting back the words that they want to scream, the questions that they want to ask. Soon, three of them are crying into the chests of their parents as their uncontrolled sobs shake their bodies.<p>

"Honey, you're friends are strong. They'll be alright," Mary Evans places her arms over her son's shoulders and pulls him closer to her chest. Her husband, Dwight, sits in the other chair next to his son while the twins, Stevie and Stacy, sit motionless and quiet on the floor. Sam shakes his head into his mother's chest as another violent sob escapes his lips.

"You don't understand Mum. They... they were so... no one's woken up! What if... if they... they never wake up?" Sam manages between gasping sobs. Mary just hugs her son even tighter and kisses the top of his head while Stevie and Stacy attach themselves to Sam's legs.

Across the room Santana Lopez sits rigid in her seat, the complete opposite to her fellow New Directions member, Sam. Having shot down any attempts of console by her parents, Santana sits by herself plagued by her thoughts of what she could've done to prevent her friends' untimely entries to the hospital. She thinks, in particular, about Brittany. _Brittany_. The one girl she would do anything for. Santana can't help but feel as though she failed her beloved girlfriend when she couldn't save them from the glowing madness inside the choir room. She knows somewhere inside her heart that it isn't her fault that everyone is in this building but she just doesn't have the strength to acknowledge that logic. So instead she sits in the seat next to her parents, ignoring their useless attempts at comfort and letting her guilt consume her.

Carole Hummel watches her son's methodical rocking back and forth, back and forth. She's tried talking to him rationally but he's just continued to rock back and forth. She understands that his friends mean everything to him and that everyone has their own way of dealing with tragedy but there must be something else running through his mind. She's so torn between her husband and her son. She wants to be with Burt but she _knows _that she can't possibly leave her son rocking like that. She again reaches out and takes her son's large hand in her own and squeezes him back to reality. Finn stops his rocking and blinks rapidly, as if waking up from a bad dream.

"Mum..." he whispers shallowly. Carole pulls him over to her and holds him tight against her body. Finn sobs into her chest and Carole strokes his hair comfortingly. "Mum..."

"I know baby, I know," Carole says. Finn shakes his head and moves to look at her with his tear-filled eyes. "Honey? What is it? What's happened?"

"Rachel..." he chokes out. Carole looks at him in confusion. She knows that he used to be with Rachel and that they had a messy break up again. And she knows that the poor boy never fully got over her but she thought he was past the stage where he'd been singling her out from his friends. Unless... Carole lets out a shocked gasp.

"Finn, baby, did you and Rachel...?" Finn just nods his head in reply and Carole pulls him back to her chest and holds him against her as he cries violently. She sees Burt walk out of Kurt's hospital room and he looks at her and then his hysterical stepson and makes his way over. He kneels on the ground in front of the two chairs and looks at his wife. Carole can see the question in his eyes and all she can say in reply is, "Rachel."

* * *

><p>"<em>Finn?" He turns around at the sound of his name being called, expecting Santana or Puck to want something from him. Instead he sees Rachel. His small ex-girlfriend. The girl who broke his heart and whose heart he broke in return. He feels a pang of sadness, loneliness, regret, hurt and – to his horror – love stab his chest but he quickly pushes it away.<em>

"_Hey,"_

"_I just..." Rachel starts but she doesn't finish. Instead she walks over and takes his tall, awkward body into a hug and holds him like that for a few moments, tears brimming in her eyes. She blinks them away quickly and pulls out, smiling. "I'm sorry. For everything,"_

"_I know. I'm sorry too," he replies. And he is. He's genuinely sorry just like he knows that she's sorry too. He goes to walk out of the room but he stops when he hears her talking again._

"_You were more than just a boyfriend to me," she says. "You were my best friend, my only friend and the love of my life,"_

"_Rach..."_

"_No. Let me finish. I hate what I did to them, to our friends but worse I hate what I did to us. What I did... it broke your heart. And I regret that I did that to you. I regret that I lost my boyfriend, the love of my life but the thing I regret most of all was losing my best friend. I love you, and I probably always will. But I just want my best friend back. If I can't have you as mine, at least let me have my best friend back. I miss you," she says. Tears are in her eyes again and try as she might she just can't blink them away again._

"_Rachel," he steps towards her and wipes away at her tears with his thumb. "You're so, so stupid. You know that?" She nods. "You're selfish and deceitful sometimes. But you're also kind, honest and caring. You love this group and that's why I know that what you did, you did because you loved us. And I know you told me because you love me, no matter how much it broke my heart." He takes her hand in his and squeezes it gently. "But what I did to you in retaliation was bad. I should never have said what I said and did what I did." He moves his hand up to cup her cheek. Rachel places her hand over his and he continues with his speech. "I miss you, I love you and I want you back... if you'll have me. Will you have me back?" In answer Rachel's lips connect with his in a passionate kiss._

"_Finally!" Santana bursts through the choir room door, with New Directions trailing behind. "Thank God you two have got yourselves all sorted out. Those stolen glances at each other in Glee Club were getting beyond lame!" Everyone bursts out into a fit of laughter and no one notices the shadow sneak away and lock the doors as a glowing orange flame begins to engulf the choir room._

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><p>A stern, sad looking doctor walks out of Surgery Room 303. All the eyes in the emergency room flicker over to the doctor. His blue eyes are deep and sombre and he's frowning sadly at the group. Finn, Sam and Santana jump up in an instant and they clump together. Finn grips Santana's hand and Santana grips Sam's hand. The doctor scans his eyes over the room, seemingly searching for someone. He gives up and waves his hands in the air and whistles loudly.<p>

"Judy Fabray?" he calls out across the room. The teens visibly squeeze each other's hands tighter as Judy Fabray makes her way across the room. They watch as the doctor shakes his head and explains about Quinn's condition. They watch as Judy thanks the helpful doctor and turns back towards them. Her face is sad and tears trail down her cheeks. Finn reaches out and grabs her wrist as she walks past.

"Mrs Fabray? Is Quinn okay?" he asks her. Judy Fabray's facade fumbles then as she shakes her head and small sobs escape her lips. Finn looks at her. "Mrs Fabray?"

"She's... she's... she's dead!" Judy finally sobs out. Carole is out of her seat in an instant and pulling Judy down to the ground in a sobbing heap. The teenagers' hands go limp as they take in what Mrs Fabray just told them. Santana's the first to sink to the ground, and then Sam and Finn fall down next to her. The grip each other tightly and sob into each other as their parents flock Judy. No one seems to care that the three teenagers are sobbing uncontrollably on the floor. No one seems to notice the names that they're crossing off in their heads. No one pays them any attention.

* * *

><p>They're starting to wake up. Some have been awake for a few hours and others a few minutes. Sam, Santana and Finn have visited them all. They've each taken turns in delivering the news about Quinn. And each time another one of the members of their tight-knit little group breaks down in sobs. Brittany takes the news the hardest. They'd been so close. Santana pulls her to her chest and kisses the top of her head while Finn and Sam back out of the room. Mercedes and Rachel are the only two who haven't woken up.<p>

Mary Evans runs up to the two boys that have just emerged from Brittany and Tina's shared room and attaches her hands to her son's shoulders. She's panting heavily, like she's been running all over the hospital. Sam places his own hands over hers to try to calm his mother down a little bit. She shakes her head and a frantic smile spreads across her face.

"Sammy!" she gasps out. Sam looks at her.

"What Mum? What's happened?"

"Mercedes!" Mary all but shouts. "She's awake!"

Sam tears off down the hall in the direction of her room. Finn is following after him because Rachel is in that same room and he thinks maybe Rachel's finally woken up. Sam rounds the corner to her room and comes to a halt in the door way. He watches Mercedes for a moment before knocking on the door and making his way inside. He sees Rachel's unconscious form in the other bed but takes no heed to it. Finn will be by her side in no time.

"Mercedes?" he says. Mercedes flickers her eyes up to look at him, a smile spreading across her face. She beacons with her hand for him to approach the bed and he does as he's told. If Santana were there she'd call him whipped. "Cedes, I thought you were gone,"

"Never!" she exclaims. Sam smiles boldly at her and takes her hand in his. Mercedes looks at his hand on hers and tries to pull away. Sam grips it tighter, not allowing her to fall away from his grip. "Sam..."

"Cedes, don't." Sam says. "These past few hours have been agony for me. Not knowing if you were ever going to wake. When I didn't know what had happened to you, what your condition was like, it was hell to me. I just wanted to know if you were ever going to wake up. I love you, Mercedes. I don't care if you don't want to be with me. I love you and I want you to know that. Just tell me you love me back,"

"Sam..." Mercedes begins. He takes that as a rejection and lets her hand go. "Sam, no, wait." She reaches out and grabs his hand again. "For the record, I think your amazing. The last person I thought of before I passed out in that fire was you. God, I hoped you were okay."

"Mercedes, I don't know what you're trying to say..."

"Sam, I love you." Sam needs no more invitation. He bends down and attacks her lips with his. Mercedes reciprocates the kiss passionately and her hand snakes it's way to Sam's hair. Sam pulls back abruptly and Mercedes looks at him in confusion. "What is it, Sam?"

"There's something I need to tell you," he says. Mercedes looks at him, waiting. "It's... it's about Quinn,"

"What...? Is she okay?" Sam shakes his head. "What... what happened?"

"She's... she's," Sam stumbles over his words, unable to breath them out. "She's dead,"

"Oh," Mercedes gasps. Her hand flies to her mouth and Sam climbs up onto the bed and sits beside her and just holds her.

* * *

><p><em>The fire is blazing around them now. They reach out to each other. Everyone clings to someone else, everyone but Quinn. She stands away from everyone, closer to the blazing flames. Mike reaches out to her to bring her closer to Tina and himself but she shoves his hand away.<em>

"_Quinn!" he calls across the room. "Quinn, come on!"_

"_No!" she yells back. She moves even closer to the building flames and that's when Rachel tries to reach out to her._

"_Quinn, come on! You're going to hurt yourself! Find some protection!" she yells. Finn's arms are wrapped securely around her body but even he reaches out an arm to help coax Quinn away from the flames._

"_Quinn! Get over here. You're going to get so much more hurt!"_

"_No!" They leave her then. They have no idea that soon they'll wish that they had tried harder. Quinn is the last to pass out. But before she falls to the ground she thinks she can hear sirens in the distance, but maybe she's just dreamed them up._

* * *

><p>Finn holds Rachel's hand tightly. Her eyes are still closed and her face is pale. His own eyes are clouded with tears but he won't leave her side again. Carole tries to pull him out but he won't move. Burt tries to pull him away but he just snaps at him to get him to leave him alone. Even Kurt waddles out of his own hospital bed to try and coax Finn away from Rachel's bedside but no one is successful. Rachel's hand squeezes his lightly and Finn instantly becomes alert. Her eyes flicker open next and finally a smile spreads across her face when she sees him. His tears fall freely now and Rachel uses her hand to wipe them away.<p>

"Hey," she says. He manages a weak smile and she wipes at his tears again. "Don't cry,"

"I'm not," he laughs and another tear leaks out of his eye. Rachel shakes her head at him and swats at his tears again. He grabs her hands and pulls them down to the bed. "Stop. I'm fine,"

"Why are you crying?" she asks him, as if it's not completely obvious. Finn shakes his head and asks her just that.

"Isn't it obvious?" She shakes her head and he _knows _she's just trying to get a substantial answer out of him. "God Rach. When I first saw the flames I was so scared. And then when you passed out... I just... I thought you were gone. Then they told me that there was a chance you'd wake up. I was so happy. Then they told us about Quinn and I... I just lost a little bit of that hope..."

"What happened to Quinn?" Rachel asks.

"She died about five hours ago," Finn squeezes Rachel's hand as she cries silently for a few minutes. Rachel and Quinn hadn't been close but they had come to be friends in the past months. The loss of Quinn's life was a tragedy for the entire group.

"You okay, babe?" Rachel nods and Finn thinks he should finish what he started. "I was so scared you weren't going to wake up, Rach. You've no idea how terrified I was,"

"I'm not leaving you anytime soon baby," she reminds him. "Not when I just got you back,"

* * *

><p>There's a sombre mood in the auditorium today. Everyone notices Quinn's missing presence. They've just attended the funeral and decided to head to the school. They haven't sung in days. It's too painful for them to sing. Mr Schuester keeps bringing their next competition up but they keep shooting him down, even Rachel.<p>

"Guys," Rachel says after almost an hour of complete silence in the auditorium, "we should sing."

"Baby..." Finn groans. He knew it was only a matter of time before Rachel would try something like this. "Not now."

"No Finn, we need this." Rachel declares. "Guys, we haven't sung in days. Maybe singing is _exactly _what we need to... you know... help,"

"Rachel's right," Tina says. "We've been sitting around _refusing _to sing because we're so afraid of the memories that it'll bring up. But shouldn't we want memories? Quinn was an amazing girl. We should want to remember her. I think we should sing,"

"Well, what do you have in mind?" Kurt asks the girls. Rachel only smiles in response and moves into the stage while Tina explains their plan.

"We need to sing something fun, upbeat. So Rach and I came up with a song that we think would be fun to sing. We know it's sort of a love song but we think it describes the way Quinn thought of herself before she... Anyway, sing it with us,"

Rachel starts the song with the first verse while Tina makes her way to the stage of the auditorium.

_You're insecure  
>Don't know what for<br>You're turning heads when you walk through the door  
>Don't need make up<br>To cover up  
>Being the way that you are is enough<em>

Tina sings the next part of the song.

_Everyone else in the room can see it  
>Everyone else but you<em>

The entire group sings the chorus as they make their way up onto the stage. They hold hands or links arms as they sing, finally feeling the passion that had been missing since Quinn's death.

_Baby you light up my world like nobody else  
>The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed<br>But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell  
>You don't know<br>Oh Oh  
>You don't know you're beautiful<em>

_If only you saw what I can see_  
><em>You'll understand why I want you so desperately<em>  
><em>Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe<em>  
><em>You don't know<em>  
><em>Oh oh<em>  
><em>You don't know you're beautiful<em>  
><em>Oh oh<em>  
><em>That what makes you beautiful<em>

Finn sings the next part of the song, pulling Rachel along with to the front of the stage as he does so.

_So c-come on  
>You got it wrong<br>To prove I'm right I put it in a song  
>I don't know why<br>You're being shy  
>And turn away when I look into your eyes<em>

Sam takes over for the other part of the verse of the song and does much the same thing as Finn, but pulling Mercedes with him. Then once Sam has sung the bridge the entire group sings along to the chorus.

_Everyone else in the room can see it  
>Everyone else but you<em>

_Baby you light up my world like nobody else  
>The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed<br>But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell  
>You don't know<br>Oh Oh  
>You don't know you're beautiful<em>

_If only you saw what I can see_  
><em>You'll understand why I want you so desperately<em>  
><em>Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe<em>  
><em>You don't know<em>  
><em>Oh oh<em>  
><em>You don't know you're beautiful<em>  
><em>Oh oh<em>  
><em>That what makes you beautiful<em>

Mercedes, Santana and Brittany take over for the next bit. Everyone is swaying along to the music as they sing the nana's and Rory sings part of the chorus himself before the rest of the group joins in for the final repeat of the chorus.

_Nana Nana Nana Nana  
>Nana Nana Nana Nana<br>Nana Nana Nana Nana_

_Baby you light up my world like nobody else_  
><em>The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed<em>  
><em>But when you smile at the ground it aint hard to tell<em>  
><em>You don't know<em>  
><em>Oh Oh<em>  
><em>You don't know you're beautiful<em>

_Baby you light up my world like nobody else  
>The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed<br>But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell  
>You don't know<br>Oh oh  
>You don't know you're beautiful<em>

_If only you saw what I can see_  
><em>You'll understand why I want you so desperately<em>  
><em>Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe<em>  
><em>You don't know<em>  
><em>Oh Oh<em>  
><em>You don't know you're beautiful<em>  
><em>Oh oh<em>  
><em>You don't know you're beautiful<em>  
><em>Oh oh<em>

Rachel sings the final line on her own this time and Finn wraps his arms around her tighter. They're clad that they can finally see themselves moving past Quinn's death and getting on with life.

_That's what makes you beautiful!_

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><p><strong>Don't hate me for killing Quinn, pleeeease? I love Quinn. Most of the time. I just really wanted to kill her for this story. Technically, it wasn't actually a Finchel fic but Finchel is pretty popular on here so I classified it as Finchel.<strong>

**Characters belong to the creators/producers/etc. of _Glee_. Storyline belongs to _MudbloodGleek._**

**_What Makes You Beautiful _belongs to the very amazing and very excellent _One Direction_.**


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